‘Top Line’ — Can Democrats Justify Switched Votes?

ABC News' Rick Klein reports: Democrats' cruel math of health care is fairly simple at this point: The House cannot pass a final bill unless at least a few members of Congress who voted against health care last fall vote for it this time around. Is that a vote Democrats — many of them freshman or sophomore members, in closely divided districts — will be able to justify to voters? That was our “Top Line” question of the day today. Yes, the Senate-passed bill is different than the old House legislation — but that may not be a winning argument, given the unpopular deals included in the Senate version. Responded @andylancaster: “Will only prove party is more important than principles.” We talked about it on “Top Line” today with Republican strategist Alex Conant, who sees a no-win scenario for Democrats who might switch their votes: “Not only did they flip-flop, but then they also voted for a bill that cut Medicare, raised taxes, raised health care spending, and at the end of the day doesn’t do anything to fundamentally fix the health care system,” Conant said. He added that Republicans are “probably better off without them passing the bill, simply because then the White House has accomplished absolutely nothing in its first 18 months — other than passing the stimulus bill, which I think is even more unpopular than the healthcare bill.” Watch the “Top Line” segment with Alex Conant HERE.